Completed A Typical Day In Nyka

[Savio]

66th of Summer, 513AV

Today was one of the few days Savio had off from work. Normal people tended to laze around and sleep on their days off. Not Savio. The sky above was still the pale oranges of Dawn and Savio was already slick with sweat. His boots pounded against the titled slats of the North Quarter rooftops as he practiced his early morning exercises. He was bare-chested and only wore his black pants and boots. On his hip, hung his dagger that was carefully secured to his belt. On his back was a backpack that contained a couple of large stones that Ximal had allowed him to use. He needed to build his strength and endurance; the rocks helped with that. His beloved water pack hung from the bag on his back.

His breathing was only starting to become labored, but he continued to push himself harder. Every time he leapt from one roof top to another, he performed a different form of flip. Front flips, back flips, and slide twists were just some of what he practiced, while compensating for the added weight he was carrying on his back. He had noticed the other day how his movements were becoming more and more fluid, so he had planned on testing his skills today. He wanted to know what he could do, and what still needed to be worked on.

He still could not truly combine his flips into complex ones, and he still managed to trip himself up a few times. He didn’t allow his mishaps to dishearten him, though. He knew he had a lot of room to improve. His climbing needed the most work though. Finding footholds and pulling himself up onto the roofs was still a strong challenge. Granted, the red stone that was used in the buildings had plenty of niches and pockets he could hold on to, but he wanted to move faster. He needed to move faster.

He allowed himself to slip into a pattering. He would Freerun across three rooftops before dropping down carefully into an alleyway just so he could climb up again. It was incredibly tedious and his fingers were bleeding by the fourth time. He could easily ignore the pain though. Since arriving to Nyka, he had pretty much been in constant pain. He was either getting hurt, attacked, run ragged, or otherwise injured. Muscle aches had become such a norm for him that he barely felt them anymore. In fact, if Savio did not hurt when he went to bed at night, he felt disappointed. Clearly he had not trained hard enough. There is a word for that. Savio mused to himself while his mind was in “The Zone”.

After another bell of him repeating the pattern of running, jumping, dropping, and then climbing; he stopped to catch his breath atop one of the higher buildings in the North Quarter. He was hunched over, his hands resting on his thighs as he forced himself to breath. His lungs burned and his legs and arms were cramping slightly. Shyke, he had been too focused to realize that he wasn’t getting enough air. He allowed himself to take off the backpack so he could sit down on the tiles and lay back. There was no need to kill himself.

After a few moments to calm his breathing, Savio freed his water bag from his backpack to take a much needed long drink. It was pure bliss on his parched tongue and raw throat. His lungs still burned from the exercise but he didn’t mind. Just another common pain he dealt with on a day-to-day basis. He looked up at the sky and watched a few thin clouds lazily drift while his body recovered. It was almost midmorning. The market should be in full swing at Herring Square, perhaps he should stop by to pick up some food and have it cooked at the Bubbling Pot in the Southern Quarter, if he was lucky he could get either Seryk or Sayren to cook it for him.

“Hey, are you alright up there?” A gruff voice called from down below.

Savio sat up quickly and looked over the ledge of the roof to see a burly older man in brown robes. His hood was down and it revealed a main of long silver hair and a full grey beard. His face held many wrinkles and perhaps a few scars. It was hard to tell from where Savio sat.

“Good morning, sir.” Savio called back. “I am fine. I was just out for a morning jog and decided to take a small break.”

The monk gave a small smirk that was barely visible to Savio and nodded. “Alright. Just stay out of trouble.” The monk of Uphis commanded before moving on with his patrol. It was still a nice surprise to find a pleasant monk in Nyka. They existed, but they were rare.

Savio got to his feet with a quite groan, because he legs throbbed painfully from his earlier exercise. He put the heavy backpack back on before easing himself down onto the street below to start walking in the direction of Herring Square in the East Quarter.

[Savio]

The walk was a nice cool down after the running he had done. The streets were slowly starting to fill with natives and foreigners alike. The amount of colors in the typical Nykan attire was still mind boggling. Savio didn’t thing he would ever be able to wear such outlandish clothes. He was a proper Syliran male, after all.

Pfft, yeah right. He was slowly becoming a Nykan and he knew it. There was something about the city that forcibly dragged him out of his shell. In the fifty-six days since he had arrived at the gates, he had become stronger, more outspoken, and proud. His boss, Anđelko had even mentioned once or twice that if it wasn’t for Savio’s drab clothes, he could easily be mistaken for a Nykan. The young acrobat had yet to decide if that was a good thing or not. Granted, Savio also had gained the ability to stand up for himself in most cases thanks to his lessons at the school.

He eventually crossed the Bridge of the Dead and entered the Celestial Quarter. It was a bit busier there than the Northern Quarter, thanks to all of the businesses and government affairs. A few of the more well to do people eyed Savio and his bare chest with some distain but the young man was far from caring. To be honest, he was kinda proud of how his body had developed during this season. His muscles were a little more predominate and toned. Nowhere as close to Ximal’s bulk but it was still enough to slightly differ than the common man.

He was proud until he felt someone grope his arse. He jerked and looked around for the one who had the audacity to fondle him. If it was a woman, he honestly wouldn’t care. But no one was close enough to him to have touched him. Then how?

Savio blinked in confusion. He shook his head. Clearly it had to have been a figment of his imagination. He started walking again, slightly disturbed but his stomach was growling, which provided a reasonable distraction.

Until someone grabbed his arse again.

Savio spun around immediately to catch the pervert who was assaulting him, but once again there was no one there. Savio huffed in annoyance until he caught the eye of a rather mature woman who seemed to have been staring at him. She blinked out of her daze with a start before blushing and rushing off in the other direction.

Savio frowned before turning back around and jogging away. Luckily nothing grabbed at him again as he exited the Celestial Quarter and finally entered the Eastern Quarter by crossing the quant Bridge of Beginning.

The air of the Eastern Quarter held more of the scent of sea salt and fish. It made Savio’s nose wrinkle in disgust. It wasn’t that he disliked fish or the ocean; it was just the smell of dead fist that had been the sun too long was not pleasant. Savio rubbed his nose with the back of his hand as he walked on. The streets were alive and bustling with activity. Even from this current location, he could hear the commotion coming from Herring Square. It wasn’t hard finding the place since most of the traffic was going there.

The cries of Sailors hawking their catches were the vocal point of the noise. Their deep, rough baritones mixed with the singing and music made by lively buskers who were in search for mizas or laats. Plus the voices of hundreds of arguing Nykans helped make the area very loud. Color was everywhere; the decorations on the walls and stalls, the clothes, and even the fish. All of the sound and noise made Savio feel a little dizzy, it was hard to believe that such a festival happened every morning.

Savio carefully made his way through the crowd until he got to a decent stall that sold fish. With it being pretty late in the morning, most of the large fish was already long gone. Savio didn’t mind, he was just looking for something to feed himself. He picked up a nice little fish and moved on.

By the time he started heading towards the Southern Quarter, he had acquired the fish, a loaf of bread, and a couple of vegetables like a carrot, potato, and an onion. It wasn’t much but it would make for a good lunch.

[Savio]

The warm, earthy scent of the Southern Quarter welcomed Savio like a long lost friend. It had been a few days since he came here, and he regretted that. As he walked, some of the Monks ventured to greet Savio by name. Since his incident with his current friend Žarko, many of the monks became more or less friendly to Savio. He also found that every time he came into the Southern Quarter, at least one monk would petition for him to join their Order. Savio would decline, of course.

They had been even more pleased when Savio let it slip that he grew up on a farm in Syliras. The monks instantly assumed that he was completely knowledgeable of the on goings of planting and harvesting, he wasn’t. He never cared to pay attention long enough to learn, much to his father’s ire.

Savio easily found his way to the Bubbling Pot. It was a somewhat large building and the scents of cooking food surrounded it like an aura of deliciousness. Savio chuckled warily his stomach growled viciously, earning him a few looks of distain from passersby. Savio took a deep breath and entered the establishment.

The building was crowded and loud. Many people waited in lines to get served, but overall the Bubbling Pot was a nice place. Very clean and lively. Savio got into line and waited while keeping an eye open for either Sayren or Seryk. They both worked here and if he was lucky they would both be here today. Sayren should be, at least. He had heard her leave early that morning.

[Sayren WindDancer]

Sayren had been working for about a few bells now. Getting used to the flow of the customers once again. Her hair was tied up into a bun under a white beret. Which was the uniform Rose had donned for her cooks. She was also wearing an a white apron. These were normally cleaned after a cook had finished their shift. Thoroughly. Or else you had to face the wrath of Rose's wooden spoon. With that being the case, the cooks did their best to keep the aprons clean, so that way less work had to be put in towards cleaning them when their shift ended.

One after another, she would approach a waiting customer, gather their name and food, cook their food, and call out for them once it was finished. Tedious, yes. However, she tried her best to make sure that the customer was smiling before they stepped away. Cause when a customer is happy, Rose is happy. And when Rose is happy, everyone is happy. If Rose is mad...her wooden spoon will provide a headache that would make the Aperture seem nice.

Most of the customers had been dealt with. So Sayren was tending to the counters, cleaning them down of all of the crumbs that had fallen off any plates in transfer from cook to customer. She also knew that she would also be the first to snatch a customer from that point too, which meant more sales on her part. She glanced up and saw a monk approach. It was a a Southern Quarter monk she had recognized, her very first customer on her first day working at the Bubbling Pot.

"Hello Zarko, welcome to the Bubbling Pot Eatery House. I'm Sayren. How may I help you?" She smiled to the monk, reciting the line that Rose had so painstakingly drilled into her head. The monk placed a small plate in front of her. It had a small piece of bread, some raw veggies, and some meat. Sayren took hold of the plate and looked back up at the man, "Alright, anything in particular you would like sir?"

The monk rubbed his chin in thought. He shook his head and shrugged, "Nah. I'll be fine with anything you come up with. I've always enjoyed Rose's creations with my food. I'm sure one of her lower cooks won't disappoint me."

She nodded as she gave him a confident grin, "Of course sir, and any name you want me to call out?" She always liked giving the option, some times her customers gave some crazy names, even if she already knew them.

"Just Zarko will do Sayren. thank you" The man said with a knowing smile, "About how long?"

Sayren tapped her chin as she eyed the food, "Approximately ten chimes. I have an idea on what you may like." She then takes the plate and takes it over to a table, dividing the food into different plates. The veggies by themselves and the meat on its own. She's seen Rose make something called a sandwich before, so she decided she would do that with these. She cut the rounded loaf of bread with a knife, starting from its side and sawing through to the other side. Placing both halves on a plate with the inside facing upwards. She then placed some more wood under the stove to heat it up. Then went over to a sink to wash off her hands. After that, she went back to the heated stove and placed two pans atop the stove, filling one with the veggies, and placing a small slice of butter atop it. Then she quickly moves over to the meat and starts to chop it up. Placing the smaller dices of meat into the separate pan.

After both had simmered for a chime or so. Then she took a spatula to scoop up the veggies and place them on the left half of bread, then quickly wipes the spatula off to place the meat on the other half. With that, she took the plate and approached the counter, hitting the small bell with a ding.

"Zarko!" She cried out, and within moments, the Monk approached Sayren. He chuckled as he saw the plate in front of him, "Oh? Is this one of Rose's sandwiches?" He reached into his money sack as he glanced over at Sayren, "How much is it?"

Sayren did a quick calculation in her head, "About five silver mizas, Zarko."

Jankovich rolled his eyes playfully, "Aye Sayren, you're killing me." He handed her one gold miza. Sayren blinked, "But-" The monk quickly brought a finger to his mouth, "Shh...don't let Rose see that. Half of that is yours now."

Sayren smiled brightly, "Thank you Zarko."

Jankovich nodded as he offered small bow, "No, thank YOU for this meal. May the Gods bless you Sayren and I'll see you next time." With that, the monk departed and went to a table. And that was when Sayren caught a sight of Savio. This caused her to raise an eyebrow as she called out to him, "I can help you here Savio." When the man finally approaches her, she asks, "So what brings you all the way to the Southern Quarter? The school is quite a ways from here for just food."

[Savio]

The crowd was slowly starting to disperse, giving Savio a better view of the counter and the cooking area behind it. He could see many different people hustling about back there under the watchful eyes of a stern older woman. One of the cooks he saw instantly brought a smile to his face. Sayren was busying herself with cleaning the counters in between serving patrons.

The young woman looked happy and polite. That was also when he saw his good friend Žarko. Ah, so he ate here too. Sayren accepted the monk’s food and cooked it up in less than ten chimes. She handed him back a strange looking dish that looked like stuffed bread of some sort. It looked amazing. As Žarko passed Savio greeted him with a warm smile and offered hand. The monk returned the smile and shook Savio’s hand before leaving the building to possibly return to his patrol.

When Savio looked back at his fellow student, she was motioning for him to step forward which he did so gratefully. “Good afternoon, Say. Been busy?”

“I was out training and running errands so I decided to stop by to test your cooking skills.” Savio answered with a big grin as he handed her his food of the fish, loaf of bread, onion, carrot, and potato. “Is Seryk working today?”

[Sayren WindDancer]

Sayren smiled as Savio approached. He asked if they had been busy and Sayren nodded, "Quite a bit. Rose has been trying to boot up the breakfast and dinner rushes. She doesn't try during lunch because apparently most of the Southern Quarter already knows the Bubbling Pot is amazing." While she spoke to him, she was rewiping the counters down again, "And what about you?"

He told her that he was out training. Doing a few errands here and there. Figured since he was in the Southern Quarter that he'd give Say's cooking skills a quick try. Then he handed her a plate of food and asked if Seryk was working today. She actually hadn't seen Seryk that day and shook her head, "He hasn't come in today. We actually don't work during the same times on some days. So I'm not-"

Rose shouted sternly, "Sayren! Stop flopping the gums and take the man's order! He's probably hungry!"

Sayren nodded as she glanced over her shoulder at the woman, "Will do Rose!" She turned around to face Savio, "Anything in particular you want me to make out of this?"

[Savio]

He couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed when she said that Seryk was not in. It would have been nice to see both of his Drykas friends at the same time. Perhaps later in the day the three of them can go out and get a drink or two from The Sharp Tongue Pub or stop by the Bath House to relax.

His grin turned mischievous when he heard the older woman reprimand Sayren. He couldn’t help himself as he spoke. “Yeah, Sayren. I’m starving here.” His words had a teasing, yet playful tone.

[Sayren WindDancer]

Sayren narrowed her eyes at Savio before taking his plate aside, "I'll call you out in bout twenty chimes." And with that, she stepped aside towards the ovens and cut tables. She separated the veggies once again, keeping the fish on the a separate plate as she began dicing up the carrots, the onion, and then the potato. Throwing them together into a mix and being sure to get them all evenly distributed in the mix. Then she checked the stove to be sure it was set aflamed properly. After that, she placed two clean pans atop, slicing a small bit a butter into both to simmer as she added the veggie mix to one pan. Afterwards, she approached the fish and started to shave the scales off with a clean knife. When the fish was properly descaled, she started to work the meat off the bone. After that, she started to dice the meat up more and placed it in the simmering pan aside the veggies. By then, the veggies were completely roasted and she placed those on an empty plate to cool quickly.

While the fish cooked, she took another knife and cut the loaf of bread in half, similar to how she did with Jankovich's loaf. Placing the two half loaves with the inside facing top side. With that, she placed the veggie mix atop one loaf. Seeing that the fish had cooked all the way through, she flipped the diced pieces around and cut into some of them just to be sure they were all white meat. Confident that it was fully cooked, she placed the diced fish bits onto the second half of bread.

She took the plate and now approached the counter, calling, "Savio Cazzola!" After the man would approach her, she would tell him it was about seven silver mizas. After that, she would also tell him that she would get off in about a few chimes. There was something she wanted to discuss with Savio since they were off school grounds.

While Savio went off to eat his food, Sayren would clean up her area and make sure it was spotless. Because if it wasn't, Rose was going to beat her ass with that petching wooden spoon. Once she was finished, she told Rose that it was time for her to be off shift.

The woman raised her eyebrow, "That time already?" Glancing over at her ever truthful grandfather clock, "I suppose so. I've worked here for so long, I can barely tell when one shift changes over to the next." She sighed and nodded, "Go on then. Don't want to-" And Sayren welcomed the woman with a hug. The woman's brow furrowed. Strange Drykas girl...she still hadn't gotten use to her hugs yet.

"May the seven bless you, Rose!" Sayren said cheerily before discarding her apron and white beret. Rose rolled her eyes, such fluff, "Yeah yeah yeah, May the gods bless. It's you that decides your fate. Not those petty high and mighty bastards."

Following that, Sayren would greet Savio out in the lounge after walking around the restaurant from the back door, "Alright...so how was the food? Was it great?" She was still nervous about what she wanted to talk to him about. Especially since it pertained to...one of their teachers... Revy.

[Savio]

Savio chuckled at the glare he got from Sayren before walking off to a little table off to the side. He sat his backpack down onto the ground next to his feet and rolled his shoulders to relax them from having the weight on them. Perhaps he did get a few odd looks; after all, he wasn’t wearing a shirt. He sighed as he lounged back in a chair and spent the time waiting on his food by examining the interior of the building. Once or twice, he caught the eye of a couple of pretty girls which made him blush. He managed to push back his natural shyness enough to give them a wink causing them to giggle and whisper among themselves. He smiled to himself before looking away, his stomach growling impatiently.

After about twenty chimes, he heard Sayren call out his name. He quickly got up and walked over to the counter. “Thanks, Say. It looks good!” He then fished out a gold Miza from his coin pouch and handed it to her. Oh, great! She was getting off. Perhaps after he ate and they finished talking the two of them could train together later. He nodded as he took the plate from her and walked over to his seat. He caught the girls smiling at him again. He smiled back and bowed his head slightly to them before sitting at his table and began to eat.

The…whatever it was, smelled delicious. Savio had to wipe his mouth because it was watering so much. He picked up the food and took a bite out of it. Even though it was a little plain, it tasted divine on his tongue. Perhaps the vegetables were a little over cooked, but he didn’t mind and neither did his stomach.

In a short amount of time, Sayren joined him at his table. She seemed a little nervous, perhaps because she worried about what he thought about her cooking? He could also see from the corner of his eye how the girls he had winked at seemed to pout, and even glare at Sayren when the young Drykas joined him. Girls were strange creatures.

One he swallowed the food that was in his mouth, he smiled at his friend and nodded. “It’s very good, Say. What is it called? I have never seen food put together like this before.”

[Sayren WindDancer]

Sayren noticed the girls off to the side. Yeah, the ones eyeing Savio this whole time. They were glaring at her presence next to him, she didn't care. Savio was her friend. Besides...she didn't have any attraction for him. She was actually hoping...to talk to him about Revy. She knew the woman didn't react too kindly to men, but...Savio right now was her closest friend aside from Garel. She wanted at least some input about it, whether it be positive or negative.

Before she could ask him about that though, she asked him about the food. Figuring it'd be odd to just...start the conversation with "I'm sleeping with a teacher." Savio had in fact enjoyed the food, asking Sayren what exactly was it? Because he had never seen food like that before. Sayren smiled as she explained, "Rose calls it a Sammich? She said she had made it to be easier to eat for some of the farmers here in the southern quarter. You can use one hand or two to eat with. And normally the bread soaks up most of the oils or grease from the meats. So it even makes it less messy."

Once Savio finished the food, he asked if they could go out and train for a little bit. She nodded in agreement, but she told him she wanted to discuss something first. It was about Revy.

"...well...when we first trained, it seemed rather normal, mentor beating the apprentice till they understand...but then...something...happened..." She trailed off, trying to find the best words to describe what happened, "she...kissed me..."

"I know! I know! It was odd...then...A few days afterwards, I tried talking her about it...which led...to us bathing together...then shopping for...'luscious' clothing...and...we...made love?" Her face was now emblazoned with red and hiding behind her bangs. She had no idea how Savio was going to react to this.